Economic Diplomacy
India’s economic diplomacy has become a crucial component of its broader strategic engagements, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a major initiative, Quad leaders launched an ”Indo-Pacific Logistics Network” pilot project to pursue shared airlift capacity among the four member nations and leverage their collective logistics strengths, to support civilian response to natural disasters more rapidly and efficiently across the Indo-Pacific region.
In a joint statement issued at the end of the Quad Summit at Wilmington, Delaware, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio also announced that the US Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Australian Border Force, and Indian Coast Guard will launch a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025, to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety, and continue with further missions in future years across the Indo-Pacific.
The four countries also announced a new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI), to enable their partners in the region to maximise tools provided through the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) and other Quad partner initiatives, to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behaviour.
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”We look forward to India hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025. Furthermore, we welcome the launch of a Quad maritime legal dialogue to support efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Quad partners intend to layer new technology and data into IPMDA over the coming year, to continue to deliver cutting-edge capability and information to the region,” the joint statement said.
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